Seal.



J. C. DAVIS.

SBAL.

APPLIOATION I'ILED JUNE 10, a.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914 Witnesses lnventor AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA c.

JOHN CLAYTON DAVIS, OF HARBOR BEACL MICHIGAN.

SEAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

Application filed June 10, 1913. Serial No. 772,868.

T o all 'Lo/mm it may concern Be it known that I, J OIIN CLAYTON DAVIS, a citizen of the 'United States, residing at Harbor Beach, in the co-unty of Huron and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Seal, of which the following is a specication.

The device forming the subject matter of this application is a seal adapted to be used upon railway Vehicles, upon boxes and elsewhere, under well known conditions which render the use of a device of this type advisable.

The invention aims to provide novel means for holding the ends of a shackle interlocked within a body member.

It is within the scope of the invention to improve generally and to enhance the utility of, devices of that type to which the present invention appertains.

\Vith the above and other objects in view which will appeal' as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the Spirit of the invent ion.

In the drawingsz-Figure 1 is a perspective of the body member of the seal; Fig. 2 is a perspective of the body member, the same being inverted; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of 'the body member on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. i is a longitudinal section of the body member on the line 4- of Fg. 1; Fig. 5 is a plan of the shackle which coperates wi 'h the body member shown in the preceding figures; Fig. 6 is a plan of the locking ring; Fig. 7 is a fragmental longitudinal section showing the primary end of the shackle; Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section of the body member taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, the primary end of the shackle being shown mounted in place within the body member; Fig. 9 is a longitudinal section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, the primary and secondary end of the shackle being shown mounted in the body member; Fig. 10 is a section similar to Fig. 8, the ends of the shackle being shown in interlockecl relation; Fig. 11 is a perspective of the seal in its complete and locked form.

In carrying out the invention there is pro- Vided a body 1 which may be of any desired shape and may be fashioned from any desired material. In the present instance, the body l is nade of fictile material, so that it may be broken by a hammer blow. As shown, but not of necessity, the body l is of blunted wedge shape. The body 1 is provided with a longitudinal cruciform slot 2, one part 3 of the slot 2 being extended entirely through the body l. The other, rectangularly disposed part i of the cruciform slot 2 is extended but part way through the body 1, to form a shoulder 5 within the contour of the body. The body 1 is equipped with a transversc slot 6, intcrsecting the crucform slot 2. The transverse slot 6 and the part 4: of the cruciform slot 2 may be clescribed briefly as intersecting openings The shackle is fashioned from fiexible material., such as fiat strap netal, and is denoted by the nuneral 7. For brevity in description, one end of the shackle, indicated. at 8 may be denominated the primary end, the other end of the shackle, designated by the reference charactcr 9, being called the secondary end of the shackle. In the primary end 8 of the shackle 7 there is an outer slot 10 and an inner slot 11, the space between the adjacent ends of the slots con-- stituting a web 12. In the secondary end 9 of the shackle 7 there is a slot 14.

The invention further includes a looking member, in the present instance shown in the forn of a ring 15, split transversely as indicated at 16.

In practical operation, the ring 15 is threaded through the outer slot 10 in the primary cnd 8, and the web 12 is engaged between the ends of the ring, as clearly shown in Fig. 7. The shacklc 7 is then threaded dmvnwardly through the part. 3 of the cruciform slot 2 as shown in Fig. 8, the ring 15 sliding in the part l: of the cruciforn slot. The free cxt'emity of the end 8 of the shackle 7 is thus disposed below the transverse slot 6 in the body 1. The primary end 8 is then given a quarter twist as shown at S in Fig. 11, thns holding the shackle 7 and the body 'l against separation. The seal is now ready for use. The secondary end 9 of the shacde 7 then inserted into the transverse slot 6 as shown in Fig. 9, and the slot 14 in the end 9 is alined with the part 3 of the cruciform slot 2. The primary end S of the shackle 7 is then thrust upwardly, the extremity of the end S passing through the slot. 'l t in the end 9. The secondary end 0 now closes the cruciform slot 2 and serves as a protection for the looking ring` 15. In this manner, the ring '15 will be brought into abutment with the end 9, and as the end 8 moves upwardly, the split 16 in the ring 15 ultimately will ride of the web 12, whereupon the ring 15 will snap together through the inner slot ll, the parts then appearing as shown in Figs. 10 and 11. The ring 15 when positio-ned as shown inFig. 10 en'gages the shoulder 5, and thus the primary end 8 cannot be drawn downwardly to an extent sufficient to withdraw the extremity of the end 8 from the slot 14: in the end 9.

In the foregoing description, the terms upper and lower have been selected for convenience in description merely, it being presupposed that the seal is disposed as shown in the drawings. Obviously, the device in operation may be positioned differently from the showing of the drawings.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is l. In a device of the class described, a body having a longitudinal cruciform opening, one part of which extends through the body, the other part of which terminates short of one end of the body to form a shoulder, the body having a transverse slot intersecting the cruciform opening; a shackle including a primary end having spacedslots, the primary end being mounted in the first specified part of the cruciform Opening; and a shoulder-engaging, split ring, located in the other part of the cruciform Opening and threaded through the spaced slots, the shackle including a secondary end having an Opening receiving the primary end.

2. In a device of the class described, a body having angularly disposed intersecting openings one of which terminates within the body to form a shoulder; a shaclle including a primary end disposed in the shoulder forming Opening and a secondary end disposed in the other Opening, the secondary end extending. across the primary end and having means for engaging the primary end; and a movable looking device on the primary end,

the secondary end coperat-ing with the shoulder to dene a compartment in which the looking device is housed.

3. In a deVice of the class described, a body having a cruciform Opening and having a transverse slot intersecting the Opening; a shackle including a. primary end disposed in one arm of the Opening; a movable looking device on the primary end and engaged with the body at one end of the other arm of the Opening; the shackle including a secondary end mounted in the transverse slot and constituting at once a closure for the cruciform Opening and a protection for the locking device; the secondary end having a slot in which the primary end is engaged.

4. In a device of the class described, a body having a longitudinal cruciform Opening, one part of which extends through the body, the other part of which terminates short of one end of the body to form a shoulder, the body having a transverse slot intersecting the cruciform Opening; a shackle including a primary end having spaced slots, and a secondary end having a slot, the primary end being mounted in the first specified part of the cruciform Opening; and a'shoulder-engaging split ring located in the other part of the cruciform Opening and threaded through the spaced slots; the primary end being bent outside of the body to hold the body and the shackle together for limited relative movement.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signatur in the presence of two witnesses. r

JOHN CLAYTON DAVIS VVitnesses W. J. ENGLE, R. C. VVIXsoN.

Gomes of this; patent may be obtained for five cents each, by adressig* the Commissione' of Fatema.

Washington, D. C. 

